Bouncing back after getting fired, Brain fog, Sheikh Hasina verdict

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture, Health & Fitness, Personal Journals

4.2 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 17 November 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Former US magazine editors-in-chief Laura Brown and Kristina O'Neill were both ‘let go’ from their respective jobs. They felt blindsided, devastated and temporarily lost their identities - until, united, they learnt how to make a comeback. They join Nuala McGovern to share their experiences as set out in their new book, All the Cool Girls Get Fired, about how they let go of the shame of ‘being fired’, a term they like to use, and how a career setback can become the best thing ever.

Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death. She is currently living in exile in India, so was tried in her absence by a court in Dhaka. Hasina was Bangladesh's longest-serving prime minister, who began her political career as a pro-democracy icon, but fled mass protests against her rule in August 2024. Today she - along with her former Interior Minister and Police Chief - was found guilty of allowing the use of lethal force against protesters and failing to prevent atrocities against them. The UN say that 1,400 protestors died. Hasina has called the court's decision biased and politically motivated. BBC correspondent Devina Gupta updates us on the story.

When BBC Technology Editor Zoe Kleinman shared a post on social media about dealing with brain fog, she had no idea it would be viewed hundreds of thousands of times and resonate with so many women who are going through the menopause. Following a long day of reporting and feeling tired, along with the fear of not being able to remember key words, Zoe used notes on the BBC News At Ten for the first time ever. Zoe joins Nuala to explain why it was important to share her experience of perimenopause and brain fog. Dr Shema Tariq, menopause researcher at University College London, talks about what causes brain fog and how women can protect their brains from cognitive decline.

Nuala is joined by the Emmy award-winning American composer Laura Karpman. Her music can be heard on films such as American Fiction and The Marvels, to TV hits like Down Cemetery Road. Her opera, called Balls, is based on the iconic 1973 ‘Battle of the Sexes’ tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, and will be having its UK premiere later this week as part of the Philharmonic Orchestra’s 80th anniversary season.

Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Simon Richardson

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.
0:07.0	Hello, I'm Emma Barnett. For most of my career, I've been on live radio, and I love it.
0:13.3	But I've always wondered, what if we'd had more time? How much deeper does the story go?
0:19.2	I remember having this very sharp thought that what you do right now, this is it.
0:24.3	This defines your life.
0:26.0	I'm ready to talk and ready to listen.
0:28.3	I'm insulted by how little the medical community is ever bothered with this.
0:33.9	Ready to talk with me, Emma Barnard, is my new podcast.
0:37.0	Listen on BBC Sounds.
0:38.7	Hello, this is Neula McGovern and you're listening to The Woman's Hour podcast. Hello and welcome to the programme.
0:45.0	Well, as you've been hearing in the news bulletins this morning, Bangladesh's former Prime Minister,
0:50.2	Sheikh Hasina, has been found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death.
0:55.1	We're going to look at the life of the woman who was once the pro-docracy icon, who then became an autocrat.
1:01.3	Also, are you starting another week of work or maybe your job hunting this morning?
1:06.8	Well, all the cool girls get fired.
1:09.5	So say two of my guests who were fired and lived not only to tell the tale, but also to turn it around to their advantage. They now offer advice and a book on how to deal with what can be a devastating experience. And they talk about also how it's different for women. Oprah Winfrey, who they spoke to, said don't look at it as a
1:29.0	setback, but as a set up for the next phase of your life. And I'm wondering, has this happened to
1:34.2	you? If you were fired, how did you react? And did you, or were you able to use the crisis
1:40.9	as a moment to pivot into something more positive or fulfilling.
1:45.0	Your stories this morning.
1:46.1	You can text the program.
1:47.1	The number is 844-on social media.
	...

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